By Tad Sooter
Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Wash.
POULSBO
The Central Market salad bar is Jenn Fredericksen’s happy place.
She and her friends are drawn to the piles of glistening greens, the olives and the cheeses, the roasted garlic that is both delicious and dangerous, and all those dressings.
Irresistible as supermarket salads might be, they’re not quick, Fredricksen said.
“By the time I’ve parked and walked in and shopped, a half-hour has gone by,” she said.
That problem gave Fredericksen, already a coffee stand entrepreneur, a fresh idea: Why not apply the drive-thru concept to greens?
“I thought it would be really cool to do drive-thru gourmet salads,” she said.
Fredericksen, who owns Latte on Your Way and Big Valley Espresso, is testing her concept on Viking Avenue. She launched her Greens On Your Way business last week in a space formerly home to Poulsbo Perk.
The walk-in portion of the coffee stand has been closed to accommodate a prep kitchen, where Fredericksen and her staff create salads and dressings from scratch. Customers can order and pay for their salads online before picking them up at the drive-thru window. Fredericksen hopes time-crunched commuters will appreciate grabbing a fresh lunch salad on their way to work, along with their morning joe.
“I think people are wanting healthier stuff,” she said.
Greens On Your Way customers have seven salads to choose from, ranging from simple Caesars to the Greek and pepperoni-laden Italian. Smoothies also are available, as well as espresso and snacks for kids. Salads start at $6.75, smoothies at $5.50.
Every salad can be ordered wrapped in a tortilla for munching on the go. Soups mighty join the menu down the road.
Fredricksen spent months testing and tasting recipes at home before choosing her salad lineup. The Southern Belle, topped with black beans, salsa, cilantro and chipotle dressing, started off a bit spicy.
“The first day we made it, it was like drinking a glass of scotch,” she said. The toned-down version on the menu is the shop’s early best-seller.
Fredricksen’s initial goal is to sell 60 salads per day — her projected break even point. If the drive-thru salad concept really takes root, she hopes to open a chain of Greens On Your Way.
Greens on Your Way
What: A drive-thru stand offering salads and smoothies
Where: 19440 Viking Ave NW, Poulsbo
When: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily
Info: Go to www.greensonyourway.com
